The research proposal is designed to study the mechanisms responsible for alterations in the metabolism of glycosaminoglycans observed during hormonal imbalance. An attempt will be made to relate the effects of diabetes, hypothyroidism, pituitary deficiency, and excess glucocorticoids to specific enzymatic lesions. In addition, a comparison will be made of the growth characteristics of cultured fibroblasts from the dermis of phenotypically normal and homozygous diabetic mice of the C57BL/KsJ strain. The capability of the two types of mice to synthesize glycosaminoglycans will be compared.